this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Tianeptine, found at convenience stores, at smoke shops and online, can mimic an opioid. It is among a growing class of substances that are difficult to control.

...

Often sold as a dietary supplement and promoted by retailers as a mood booster and focus aid, tianeptine is among a growing, unregulated class of potentially addictive products available in gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops and across the internet. They typically include synthetic pharmaceuticals and plant-derived substances.

Some, like kratom and phenibut, can be addictive and, in rare cases, fatal. They often originate in other countries, including Indonesia and Russia, where they are commonly used, even prescribed, for mood management. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved them as medicines in the United States.

“Tianeptine is an emerging threat,” said Kaitlyn Brown, clinical managing director of America’s Poison Centers, which represents and collects data from 55 centers nationwide. “We have people who are able to get a substance that’s not well regulated, that has abuse potential and that, in high doses, can cause similar effects to opioids, leading to really harmful outcomes.”

...

Tianeptine is a drug developed by French researchers in the 1960s as an antidepressant. It is approved in low doses for that use in many European, Asian and Latin American countries.

But at higher doses, it also works much as an opioid does, delivering short-lived euphoria. In the United States, many people take tianeptine under the widespread, mistaken belief that it is a safe alternative to street opioids like fentanyl or heroin, or even a way to taper off using them. On social media sites like Reddit, its merits are hotly debated, with more than 5,000 people subscribing to a “Quitting Tianeptine” forum.

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[–] peopleproblems 16 points 9 months ago (6 children)

So this has me asking more questions now

  1. Who goes and buys random ass gas station supplements?
  2. is this an opioid or not an opioid?
  3. opioid apparently means nothing to me now wtf did I read opioid too much?
[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)
  1. Gas station “supplements” are a surprisingly large market; apparently a source of erectile dysfunction pills and energy boosters for truckers
  2. It is not an opioid
  3. Opioid opioid opioid
[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

Username checks out.

[–] kajdav 9 points 9 months ago

It is an opioid, although atypical compared to other opioids.

It has been found to act as an atypical agonist of the μ-opioid receptor

Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianeptine?wprov=sfla1

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Lots of people buy random ass gas station "supplements" as some are research chemicals being sold under other names. Unfortunately the real fun stuff no longer pop up after the DEA cracked down on it. Here's some examples of different RCs that were sold in gas stations.

2C-B a serotonergic psychedelic was sold as an aphrodisiac under the brand name erox and nexus

MDPV and 4-MMC two empathogens similar to MDMA where sold as "bath salts" under several brand names including ivory wave, purple wave, and white knight

Famously a whole bunch of synthetic cannabinoid were sold under the brand name K2 and Spice

DMAA a stimulate was sold under the brand iced diamonds and many other brands

[–] Fades 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Very true, this shit is always happening. Personally I’m waiting for the phenibut hammer to drop, I see it in smoke shops a lot these days. The DEA is already cracking down I heard. Also not heroin lol, closer to a benzo (except the sedation is quite delayed comparatively).

obligatory do not fuck with bzds, no matter how confident you are it can be controlled. That’s not how the chemistry works, especially when it comes to long term (years) tolerance. Just ask anyone who had a kpin or alpraz prescription long term.

Anyway i digress, legal 2C-B. Good times, nothin wrong with a good psychedelic. Right there along with 4-ho-met/mipt

MDMA is where I draw the line, you can do serious harm and waste more serotonin than you’d regenerate for a long time with overdosing and/or overuse (and not much either)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Back when ephedrine was a thing and legal, it was really cheap and available at gas stations. Only other place I knew to find it was health food stores as a weightlifting supplement where it would cost way more (probably mixed in with some other stuff).

I just used it for staying awake when I worked third shift by myself. I've never otherwise made a habit of buying anything at gas stations, but it wouldn't surprise me that shady gas stations are at the forefront of dubious medicines and supplements.

[–] CaptPretentious 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I miss being able to just pick up some ephedrine at the gas station before work. I did 12-hour shifts in a steel fabrication back in this days

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Yeah. I miss Ultimate Energizers. Those things got me through so many shifts at work. And it's funny that they put ephedrine on the controlled list to prevent it from being used to make meth... because it became easier for me to get meth than ephedrine, and that's how I became a tweaker. I probably would have had a completely different life trajectory if they had kept ephedrine OTC.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Tianeptine is a tricyclic antidepressant.

However it's an "atypical" tricyclic. So it also has some weird properties like activity on μ-opioid receptors. So in high doses you can achieve a very strong opioid high.

Because it's not an opoid, but an antidepressant with opoid properties the withdrawal from continuous high dosage usage are rumored to be legendary... and much worse than heroin. On forums users have described it as trying to kick a really bad Benzo addiction and opioid addiction at the same time... I would imagine it would be wise to withdraw with medical assistance.

[–] Psythik 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

So I should stick to kratom, then. YMMV, but the only withdrawal effect I get from it is irritability. But I'm always angry so it's not the end of the world. It helps my depression way better than antidepressants.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Yes, stick with Kratom. If you try to mimick the effects with Tianeptine, you're going to have a bad time.

[–] peopleproblems 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

As trying to kick a really bad Benzo addiction and opioid addition at the same time

That sort of just sounds like most modern antidepressants. Cymbalta and Effexor give incredibly bad and powerful brain shocks if you miss a single dose. I imagine it's like that, but with physical seizures

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I think your close, just add extremely bad flu symptoms and nausea from the opioid side and you got a pretty close guess as to what hell you would endure.

[–] Fades 2 points 9 months ago

It is NOT an opioid. Full stop.

This article is full of fear mongering and bad info. It shouldn’t be sold/marketed at gas stations and shit but it’s in no way heroin or the like